Pools are used throughout the world as a popular source of enjoyment and exercise. However, as enjoyable as they are, pools require routine maintenance, such as the addition of chlorine, algaecides and pH control agents, to maintain the necessary pool water conditions. These chemicals are added to the pool, and then circulated by the pool's recirculation pumps through a filter, before returning it to the pool at a different location from which it was taken. The pool filters can remove solid particulates from the pool water that reach the filter. However, a challenge that remains for pool owners is debris that floats on the surface of the water, such as leaves, dead insects, cut grass, etc. While these materials can of course be manually removed by netting, it is desirable for them to be removed by the existing pool pump and filtration systems. Pool skimmers, i.e., generally rectangular openings in the sides of pools, are typically employed to continuously remove the surface debris by pulling it into the pool recirculation system where it can be processed by the filters. Optimally, the level of water is just high enough to provide the flow of pool water required by the pump design, while still maintaining a velocity of surface water sufficient to pull debris into the skimmer. However, the level of water in the pool significantly impacts the performance of the pool skimmer, since if the pool level is too low the pool recirculation system will be starved of water. If the water level is too high, although sufficient water can flow to the pool pump, the water obtained from the pool surface is lowered in favor of subsurface water. This reduces the velocity of water entering the pool at the pool surface, and thus the ability to pull surface debris into the pool pump system. As a result, pool owners must constantly deal with pool level changes due to evaporation or rainfall. Often an owner must remove water and add water in a short time span, which represents a waste of resources, and routes chemicals to the nation's waterways, or otherwise live with poor pool skimmer operation. Therefore, work has been ongoing to improve the efficiency of pool skimmers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,268,079 discloses a water skimmer having a buoyancy control valve assembly for controlling the feed of surface water to a filter.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,453 discloses a floatable debris collector for gathering solid debris floating on the pool surface. The collector uses jets of water to wash recovered debris to a debris collector.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,005,063 discloses a flow diverting weir for attachment to the face plate of a pool skimmer having an enclosed scoop member with an opening on one side to allow entry of water from the pool into the skimmer.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,603,330 discloses a water diverter assembly positioned in a skimmer chamber between a well and a pool.
Nevertheless, a continuing need exists for pool skimming equipment and processes that allow an increase in the water height of the pool. This results in less drainage of water, which is environmentally and aesthetically desirable, makes pool maintenance simpler, and actually increases pool liner wear, since higher pool levels reduce the amount of liner exposed to UV radiation.